Becoming an entrepreneur can happen is the most unusual circumstances.
One person might become an entrepreneur in the aftermath of losing one’s job.
Another might become one through taking over a family business.
Or you could become one during your winter exams during first year of college… at least that’s how I became one.
I launched the first book of my soon to become publishing brand Zoomer Publishing on January 29th 2022. ‘Simple Smart Spanish’ is a Spanish beginner’s book for secondary school students learning Spanish and was the first in a long line of books I launched onto Amazon as I worked on my brand and turned Zoomer Publishing into a leading publisher for Gen Z readers providing entertaining fiction and non-fiction books.
As an entrepreneur starting at age 18, I found myself facing several common limiting beliefs that I want to help dispel for other entrepreneurs in the exact same position.
Internal Belief 1 – ‘I’m not good enough’
The truth is no one is good enough when they get started. No first-time entrepreneur has any skin in the game when they begin their journey and so everyone ends up starting from scratch.
‘It’s not important what people think of you in the beginning, it’s much more important what people think of you at the end.’ – Jurgen Klopp (2015 upon becoming Liverpool manager.)
Internal Belief 2 – ‘Others will be better than me (Imposter Syndrome)’
This is the belief that everyone EXCEPT you has hidden natural gifts that turn them into a entrepreneur. This could not be further from the truth and ultimately no one is that special. The people you look up to in the business world are not perfect and have made mistakes along the way, so don’t ever get the feeling of inadequacy when you start!
‘Entrepreneurship is a test of will. Not intellect.’ – Alex Hormozi – Founder of Acquisition.com.
Internal Belief 3 - ‘I don’t have the time’
How many hours do you spend on your phone?
Exactly, so you DO have time. According to The Star, Gen Zer’s spend over seven hours a day on their phones so most of the time, this excuse simply comes down to MAKING time. All your role models found time to start their business, so why can’t you?
External Belief 1 – ‘It’s too expensive’
Ultimately, starting your business can be as cheap or expensive as you like. Ultimately starting a business takes huge financial investment but this doesn’t necessarily have to be at the start before you make your first €1. Typically, a service-based business costs less to start up than a product-based business. A great tip for getting started can be managing you finances and setting money aside for your new business.
Remember the money you put in at the start of your business journey is an investment, not an expense.
External Belief 2 – ‘People will make fun of me’
Try never to let this effect you. People will always have something to say and will always want to voice their opinion. From my experience, most will simply not care and won’t cause you any grievances. If you wish to take a bullish approach, for the people who don’t believe you can do it, force them to sit up and take notice. Before long they will want your advice on how to start themselves
External Belief 3 – ‘What if I fail?’
Unfortunately, it is impossible to have success without failure and quite often failure comes before the success which is the annoying part!
I think it’s also crucial to define success, particularly as a student entrepreneur because social media skews the entire landscape.
· Failure is not failing to make 10k a month.
· Failure is giving up when things are getting difficult.
· Failure is when the business ruins your life and consumes you.
For me if you have a business or even a small side hustle that puts an extra €50 into your account each month without taking up all your time or perhaps even passively, then that is success as far as I’m concerned.
Becoming an entrepreneur as a student is one of the most rewarding experiences you could possibly have, and I highly recommend to anyone to take the plunge who is thinking about it. The final piece of advice I can give is that ultimately your results as an entrepreneur will always 100% be your responsibility, good or bad.
If you fail, it’s your fault.
If you succeed, it’s your fault.
There is no benefit to blaming parties from outside such as luck, the government, customers or suppliers. It all comes down to you and that’s what keeps your trajectory in your control.
Happy Entrepreneurs Day!
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